Pleural fluid pseudouridine in malignant and benign pleural effusions.
Pseudouridine in urine and plasma has been proved to be a useful tumour marker in many malignant conditions. We studied its usefulness in pleural fluid for distinguishing malignant from non-malignant pleural effusions. Pleural fluid pseudouridine concentrations in different groups of patients with pleural effusion (31 malignant, 29 benign, 16 unknown, 1 double pathology) was measured and compared. Its usefulness in distinguishing malignant from non-malignant pleural effusions was analysed by receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Pseudouridine concentrations in the malignant group were significantly higher than the non-malignant group (P < 0.017, Bonferroni adjustment) with values overlapping extensively at the lower end. The area-under-the curve (AUC) value in the ROC curve analysis was 0.675 (P < 0.05). We conclude that the pleural fluid pseudouridine is of limited clinical value in distinguishing malignant from non-malignant pleural effusion due to its extensive overlap. However, it is useful when the concentration is higher than 65 mumol/L, which indicates malignancy.
Mak
T W
TW
Department of Chemical Pathology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
Ho
S S
SS
Ho
C S
CS
Jones
M G
MG
Lai
C K
CK
Lam
C W
CW
D019540:Area Under Curve; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000737:chemistry*; D016066:Pleural Effusion, Malignant / Q000737:chemistry*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011560:Pseudouridine / Q000032:analysis*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D011560:Pseudouridine